Pact: Path of Fatal Attraction
by Kaine Entropy
Summary: !Revised! I'm not one for religion, all that 'higher purpose' deal I never believed it all. Here, you don't have much of a choice. This fight makes a believer out of you, whether you want to or not. LannxOC!Lann Rated M for later chapters


It was tedious, I was never one for travel and walking made the process just that much more unbearable. I could've taken the horse but it was easier to track down a missing horse than a single person on foot. But the heat beating down on my head made the bag over my shoulder all the more heavier and the twin spears at my waist began to hurt, I wish I had taken the horse. The thought of turning back and just returning home always crossed my mind every now and then but I can't go back now. It's far too late to change my mind. The image of my mother's tearstained face and that depressed look in the wide eyes of my baby sister but, of course, she didn't know the reason why her big brother was absent from her life for the time being. They'd tell her some wild tale that I was off doing some great heroic and that I would return, and of course I would, if not for anyone else but her. Besides it would be another 2 week trip back on foot if I turned around, maybe it was longer...I don't know how long it's been since I've left. I could already see the high rising towers and terraces of Rocheste Castle. The structures grew bigger and bigger as I passed by towards my actual destination just beyond it. The rolling landscape here was surprisingly relaxed for an area known for active Fomor attacks. The grass was a lush green; the trees were thick with leaves as birds nested in them. There were patches of wild flowers that could please even the pickiest of people. Few sheep were littered here and there; they seemed at peace by my presence. This could mean they either didn't care, or they were used to people. Nice change to the dangerous, thickly wooded areas outside the high walls of Arcadia. I passed by a gated altar with a large, well-cared for structure of the goddess, Morrighan, the black winged blessed divine that would, according to legend, lead us to a final paradise known as Erinn when all Fomor were eradicated. I was never a zealous advocate of Morrighan, I had my own beliefs. I continued on my way. I made it as unharmed as I had been when I left home, though far more hungry and wary. What I would give for bed to rest in.

Colhen was not how I remembered from my childhood, there were no merchants wandering around selling their merchandise nor were there giant sailing vessels from the countries abroad selling crops, despite the fully accessible trade docks. It was now a small, quaint town with a few baby chicks scurrying around, and two young puppies chasing one another through post in a fence and some other farm animals even if there is no nearby farm. This place even offered a carriage ride to Rocheste. All I needed was to locate the Mercenary Outpost and I'd be set. As if on cue, a young woman with brown hair bundled up in a high ponytail came skipping out of a building with an erg pot out front, clutching a pair of boots made from white pelts. She looked to be a local here, couldn't hurt to ask, right? I raised my arm and waved to get her attention, "Excuse me, but you wouldn't happen to know-"

"Hello! I haven't seen you here before. Are you new?"

"Ye-"

"But of course you are. I would have remembered such pretty hair as yours!" She practically yelled in my face whilst reaching out and pulled roughly at my hair that had fallen out from underneath my hood, running her hand through it and almost knocking off my hood, "It's so soft and shiny! I wish mine was like yours! Where are my manners, I'm Clodagh, nice to meet you!" She grabbed my left hand and wrist, and shook with all her strength. I could feel my shoulder being wretched out of place at the irregular and spasmodic gesture.

"Are you a fashion designer from Rocheste? That's just amazing! I have these boots here, you see, made from the hide of a Hoarfrost Hollow Polar Bear! I call them Sweetie Bear boots; I have a matching set of gloves to go with them! They are the most adorable set of boots and gloves that combat will ever see!" She continued to rant on and on about the useless things, so yeah she's insane, "Feel them too! So soft and fluffy, perfect for those chilly ice caverns-" She was close to shoving the boots in my face when I held up my hands to stop her.

"I was actually wondering if you knew where the Mercenary Outpost was…"

"Oh you're a mercenary? Well shoo…I was hoping you were a Rocheste designer, you definitely fooled me with this fancy cloak,"

_I noticed…_ "Right this way, Mr. Mercenary!" I didn't ask about the name, allowing the delusional girl to drag me around a couple building to one with an attached stable. "Come on in!" I stumbled forward at my arm being forcefully yanked by the girl.

"Marrec, I've got another boy for you." She let me go and skipped up to a man who wore a dulled metal helmet.

"Clodagh, what did I say about bringing back random animals from the fields-" He stopped as he noticed me, "Well you are certainly no lost duckling, my apologies."

"He was looking for this place, so I brought him here."

"Thank you, Clodagh." The 'thank you' sounded a bit…well it wasn't genuine appreciation, a bit stranded even. He may have found her just as irritating as I found her, though I could not tell because I could not see his face. Normally people's feelings were an easy read for me especially if I could see their eyes, he was different though. I got no reads from his eyes, which was the only thing I had because of the full head helm he wore. His helm looked oddly familiar but I didn't get into it. It was just a helm after all. The insane girl left with the extremely fluffy polar bear fur boots in her arms and a crazed smile on her lips, but not before looking at me for some time and saying that I should stop by the General Store sometime to see her. I now knew where I was not going.

"So you want to join the Crimson Blades, do you?" The helmed man spoke, arms crossed against his chest apparently trying to size me up. Which isn't hard at all...I'm not that tall nor as bulky as any of the mercenaries in this room. I nodded, shifting my bag on my shoulder.

"You don't talk a lot, huh?" I shook my head, holding my hood securely on my head as I felt it slipping, "You're like a friend I knew once. I could never get him to talk to me...Either way, Captain Adohan!"

A man in his late 30s ventured out from a separate room. He wore a brown tunic with matching pants, black leather boots, and a sword strapped to his side much like this Marrec fellow. His face was set in a stern expression as he looked me up and down, "You're here to become a mercenary, I assume?"

"Yes sir." I answered respectfully, standing up as straight as I possibly could.

"Very well, follow me." That was easy. I had this sinking feeling in my chest, a hollowness making itself at home inside me as I walked between the two men. I was second guessing my decision. Entering the back room the first thing I noticed was the giant of a man with a pillar that could easily be as big as my entire body. Even from a distance I was looking up at his face, his body looked like to be 2-3 times bigger than my own. His fist alone could be as big as my head. Not someone I'd ever think about messing with. My attention was moved to a sword that was flying about the room, and coming a tad bit too close to my face. I heard a giggle from my right, looking over I saw a girl with waist length black hair, eyes as green as emeralds and a slightly tanned complexion. Taking up most of the table space was an onyx black scythe with a kobold cloth and polish. Next to the first girl was another in full heavy armor minus the helm, cleaning a finely crafted Fluted long sword as an Eagle Heart shield laid shining in all its glory on the table. She had light brown hair that reached below her shoulders, and had a paler complexion compared to the mage.

"I'm quite sure you've noticed Evie, she's our only mage. Sitting with her is her partner, Fiona. The two of them work together on assignments; you'll be getting your own partner as well. The large one over there is Karok, he may be big but he's a very kind fellow. His partner is Ceara, she's not here at the moment but you'll know her when you see her." Adohan slapped a heavy hand on my back when he saw the unsure look on my face directed at the one named Karok, causing me to lurch forward with a strangled grunt. He apparently found this to be amusing and laughed at my pained expression, "You've met Marrec already. In the back corner over there," he pointed to a shady looking man that was looking perhaps a little too intently at the mage named Evie, "That's Gallagher. He tends to stay at the outpost and with good reason. He's a good fighter but a lousy friend. I'd be careful with him. You'll end up being talked out of all your belongings."

"Those are the main ones you'll want to become familiar with. Karok, Evie, Fiona and Lann were our latest recruits, so they'll help you along. You would be partnered with Lann, but the boy is always missing at the oddest of times. He'll turn up though, for now let's introduce you. Mercenaries," With that, anything everyone had been doing was immediately stopped and they gave their captain their undivided attention as he stepped further into the room, leaving me at the door. "Ok, everyone I want you to meet our new recruit, his name is…" He trailed off, and looked back at me, waiting for me to fill in the blank. I was pushed forward by Evie, what's up with her? "What is your name, boy?" I mumbled, embarrassed because everyone was now focused on me. The sinking feeling from earlier came back full force and seemed to sink even further and it felt like my heart was being squeezed. Adohan leaned towards me to hear what I said, "Kaine…" my voice trailed off, but Adohan understood me.

"No need to be shy!" He pulled me forward into a neck locking hold, knocking my hood off in the process. I remained tight lipped. I'm pretty sure my face was red from both the mortification of my pride and Adohan squeezing on my neck. Adohan laughed out loud at my reddened face and everyone else seemed to join in, more or less. Evie and Fiona attempted to suppress theirs, Marrec laughed straight out, Karok just snickered and shook his head. Just then a girl with red hair came shuffling into the room and took a seat atop the table where Fiona and Evie sat, this must be Ceara.

Adohan greeted Ceara, Ceara waved at him with a sideways smile, "Now that we are all here, I want you all to meet our new rookie, Kaine." The red head jumped off the table and stood in front me.

"Hi Kaine, I'm Ceara. It's nice to meet you." She gripped my hand and began to shake it wildly; I don't even think I was participating in the handshake. I smiled back shyly.

"Nice to meet you, Ceara…" I mumbled loud enough for her to hear.

"Hey, you do talk! That's great!" Oh great, another loud one…I hope she's just like this at the start. I thought, mentally sighing. Marrec had approached us and began to look me in the face now that he could see it.

"You wouldn't happen to be from Arcadia would you?" He asked suddenly. I flinched back and reached up to my hood, remembering that it had fallen off earlier.

"Perhaps..." I answered with a bit of edge. I gave a shout as I was grabbed and lifted up into a bear hug at my waist, and to make it all better (or worse) Marrec spun twirled around few times. "Kaine, it's great to see you again!" I figured I knew him.

"What happened to the Royal Army with you and Keaghan?" I saw the bubbly happiness in Marrec's eyes die down just a bit, something obviously happened…

"That's a story for another time." A noise in the back of the room drew our attention to a guy looking at door that had swung back into a rack of swords and knocked it over. He didn't seem entirely sure what to do so he just shuffled away from the mess. He continued on with what he was doing previous, which was trying to buckle up the belts attached to his greaves while holding a helm between his arm and hip. His gear consisted of the Red Tyrant gear set minus the helm; the pelts were white with red splattered across it, anything that wasn't pelt was a slate gray. Rather than clutching the matching Tyrant helm at his hip, he held a War Edge helm. The metal was black, and the pelt on the back was just pure white. The man's hair matched the metal of his armor, though it had a blue tint to it like a raven; it reached just above his eyes and stopped just below his ears, swaying to one side. He was exceedingly good looking, I admit to it, unlike most of the men in Arcadia.

"Lann!" Ceara called over to the man, he looked up and raised a hand to wave. The arm he waved just happen to be the one that held his helm, and it fell to the ground and seemingly rolled away from him as he dropped his arm to his side and growled loudly. Ceara grabbed my hand and Marrec's, Marrec grabbed Captain Adohan's and we were all lead off by Ceara to where Lann was. We came up to where Lann was on his knees as he dug underneath a shelf for his helm. "Lann…?" Marrec began cautiously, looking at me as I tried to avoid looking. Of course, Marrec and Keaghan were the only two that knew I liked men over women. Lann straightened up, clutching the War Edge helm in his hands with a quiet shout of success. He stood up and turned to us, a slight smile on his lips.

"How can I help you today, Ceara?" He said, placing his helm on the shelf and leaning on it. Ceara gestured over to Marrec, who gestured to Adohan, who gestured to me, and I just looked flat out confused. Marrec, Ceara, and Adohan laughed at me and that confused both me and Lann, causing them to laugh more. These people just love to laugh at us don't they…?

"Lann, this is Kaine, your new partner. Kaine, this is Lann. He's a twin sword user." I nodded in acknowledgement; you don't find many duel-wielders nowadays, "Speaking of weapons, what exactly do you use?"

"I'm a twin spear user…" I saw Lann's face turn to one of surprise; his blue eyes stared into my red eyes.

"I've never met a twin spear."

"And I've never met a twin sword." I noticed the smile that tugged at his face.

"Well, we will just leave you two to get acquainted. Lann will show you to the inn where you two will be sharing a room, hope you don't mind Kaine. Lann can introduce you to Tieve-.."

"He knows Tieve, Captain." Marrec cut in. Lann motioned to the door I first came through and we both slipped out while Marrec and Adohan continued their debate. I'd need to have a talk with Marrec later on considering how he loved to talk. Everything was still as calm as it was when I first arrived.

"So, y'know Marrec and Tieve?" Lann questioned, I nodded and shifted my bag on my shoulder, "Come on let's go put your stuff down, I have to change anyways. Hope you don't mind." I smiled slightly, and chuckled for a second before going silent. "You don't talk much do you?" I hummed negatively. We continued onto the inn, a white dog was asleep by the mailbox with the two puppies from earlier. One of the two looked at us and scampered to follow behind us with innocent curiosity. "Do you want to say 'hi' to Tieve? I'm sure she'd be delighted to see an old friend, and even more pleased to get some food into you! You're so small." He poked lightly at my chest and stomach before laughing heartily.

"Later." I frowned underneath my hood and crossed my arms across my stomach; _I couldn't possibly be that small... _Lann snickered but nodded, and opened the door to the inn, peeking inside. "Well she's not here right now anyways." He pulled me inside and down a hall off to the left of the door and to the last door on the right side of the corridor. He let me walk in ahead of him and he closed the door behind us, starting to take off his gear. The room was spacious, a window was straight across from the door, and two beds were displaced off to the left and right of it and both were pushed into the corners by the window. Underneath the window was a double sided dresser, six drawers on it. Atop of it lay a set of Soul Slasher twin swords. I'd seen many people visit Arcadia with only half the set, not many people had two because of the rarity of the materials, plus they lacked the skill to wield both. By the door was a rounded table big enough for two to sit at. I noticed Lann by the dresser, setting his gauntlets inside one of the drawers on the right side. I reached a hand up, tangled it in a bottom portion of my shoulder length black hair and tugged at it to keep from looking over at him. I bit my tongue until I could taste my own blood.

"You can just pick a bed, I don't care which." I jumped slightly, looking up at Lann to see him without the breastplate of his gear and just beginning to change out of his greaves. I walked over to the right side of the room, dropping my bag onto the bed and just plopping down next to it. I undid the necktie of my cloak and let it fall, "Are you nervous for some reason?" I heard Lann ask flippantly. Looking up from my lap, I saw him leaning on the waist high dresser without a shirt and just a pair of formfitting pants.

"Why do you ask?"

"You've been pulling at your hair since we left the Outpost. I only assumed it was a nervous habit…" Well damn, I didn't think I still did that.

"Just an unconscious habit I picked up…I guess I never got over it." I laughed pathetically.

"You seem nervous," he decided to sit next to me on the bed, "You definitely look nervous." He smirked and leaned closer to me.

My mouth dropped open a bit and I stopped breathing as he got closer. Our noses almost touched, and I could feel his breathe flow over my mouth. He pushed forward and rested his forehead against mine. "Then again…you may just be tired…did you rest at all today?" I just sat there with my mouth agape, shaking my head 'no'. The last time I remember resting would be maybe...2 days ago?

"Alright, then you should get some rest. No wonder you're not talking. Hungry?" I shuddered when he pulled back. I shook my head 'no' again, shifting back to lean on my hands.

"I'm perfectly fine."

"Ah, well…It's late, so I suppose we should get to bed. No doubt Adohan will be sending us off tomorrow; I'd be surprised if he didn't." Lann turned back to the other bed, and he was right. Outside the window I could see the light fading fast. I must have arrived later than I thought or Lann must've just sat there observing me for a long time before speaking...Let's stick with the former. I became aware of the lightheaded feeling I had, and I still felt the tingle as if Lann were still as close to me as he just was…I knew what this feeling was, I wasn't stupid. I lay back atop my bed and cloak, too lazy to pull the sheets back though it was warm enough without them. Glancing over at Lann I noticed that he was laying his stomach, face down on his pillow and humming a soft tune while tapping his foot. He was asleep not too long after and myself with him.


End file.
